Over the past several years, our group has been focused on studying genes with neuromodulatory, neuroprotective and/or neuroregenerative effects in models of neurodegeneration and neurotoxicity. We primarily have examined how the MANF/CDNF protein family can improve neuronal survival during injury or disease states. We published paper showing MANF has protective effects when administered after stroke. Our lab discovered that the cytomegaloviral promoter commonly used in viral vectors for gene delivery studies as well as clinical trials in humans is affected by various forms of neuronal activation. This work is published in Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev. In collaboration with Dr. Mark Borden(CU Bolder), we described the state of the art for using focused ultrasound with microbubbles for disrupting the blood brain barrier towards non-invasive gene delivery. This was published in Theranostics. In collaboration with Mikko Airavaara (U Helsinki) we identified an experimental caveat when using AAV vectors in rodent models of Parkinson's disease. This work is published in J Neurosci Res.